Tips on Baking with Yeast

Appears in
Craig Claiborne’s Kitchen Primer
Craig Claiborne’s Kitchen Primer

By Craig Claiborne

Published 1969

  • About
In all of cooking there is nothing perhaps more gratifying than the making of pastries in general and the baking of yeast breads in particular. There is something soul-satisfying in producing a loaf of bread, from the kneading of the dough to removing it from the oven.
And yet it is quite simple. But spend a moment or two to read the following.

  1. When you work with yeast, you must take care that it is not dissolved in a liquid that is too hot. This will kill the thing that makes the dough rise. Water is the best liquid for dissolving yeast.

  2. The proper temperature of water for dissolving yeast is from between 110 to 115 degrees. This is warmer than lukewarm but not hot. There are thermometers available in hardware stores for measuring such liquids but good judgment is just as good.

  3. Before you start mixing ingredients, you should rinse the mixing bowl with hot water. This will help maintain the temperature which helps the yeast rise.

  4. When the dough is added to the bowl it should be kept in a warm place free from currents of air. The simplest way to do this is to place the bowl containing the dough over a bowl of hot but not boiling water, then to cover the dough totally with a towel. The water below must be changed at intervals so that it stays hot.

  5. The easiest method to determine when the dough has risen sufficiently is to press a couple of fingers into the dough ½ inch or so. If the impressions remain in the dough, it has risen enough. This is “double in bulk.”.

  6. The best pans for baking bread are those made of glass or of anodized aluminum. The latter has a dull finish. These absorb heat and give a good brown crust.